Saturday, February 9, 2013

From the Philippine News Agency (Feb 10): All set for P-Noy's visit to MILF
camp

Yellow and green “bandala” (flags) and warm welcome await President Aquino and
his party when he steps on the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) bailiwick in
Maguindanao on Monday.

The yellow and green flags, the favorite colors of the President and the
MILF, respectively, are beautifully arranged along the road leading to periphery
of Camp Darapanan in Simuay, Sultan Kudarat Maguindanao as the Chief Executive
brings government services to the MILF communities.

Long deprived of genuine government service, the MILF communities will avail
of basic health, education, social service, technical education, livelihood,
among others once the “Sahajatra Bangsamoro” is launched by President Aquino
Monday morning here.

Ghadzali Jaafar, speaking for the MILF, said the group was all prepared for
the historic event that would strengthen the stakeholders’ desire to achieve
peace in strife-torn Mindanao.
“Our security measures are ready,” Jaafar, MILF vice chair for political
affairs, told reporters.
“Our uniformed but unarmed MILF fighters will be securing the road networks
leading to the ceremony site side by side with the Army,” said Jaafar.

About two dozens armored personnel carriers have been deployed around the
MILF camp that straddles through three adjoining villages, including portions of
the Cotabato-Davao and Cotabato-Marawi highways.

Elements of the 40th, 7th and 37th Infantry Battalions have been providing
security measures in the five kilometer radius of the venue with the
Presidential Security Group (PSG)around the Bangsamoro Leadership and Management
Institute where President Aquino would launch “Sajahatra Bangsamoro."
“Sajahatra” is an Arabic term which means “peace, prosperity and unity.”

Two dozens of police and Army checkpoints will secure the seven kilometer
road from Cotabato City to Barangay Simuay here.
Two navy boats are on standby at Polloc Port, some eight kilometers from Camp
Darapanan.

“Peace is at hand,” exclaimed one streamer along the highway. “We love you
P-Noy,” another streamer said.
Most of the streamers welcoming the President are in yellow written on color
green cloth, obviously a combination of the President’s favorite color and that
of the MILF's.

Colonel Dickson Hermoso, speaking for the regional Army division, said no
threat have so far been monitored relative to the activity on Monday but the
Army and the police have been placed on heightened alert since Saturday.

This is the third time that President Aquino and MILF chief Al Haj Murad will
be meeting.

In June last year, both met in Japan during which the President informed the
MILF leader about his determination to come up with a comprehensive, political
agreement acceptable to all in Mindanao.

The second was during the signing of the Framework Agreement on Bangsamoro in
Malacanang last October where Murad first set foot in the government’s center of
power.

This time, its President Aquino’s turn to set foot in an MILF territory to
“nurture the seeds of peace planted in Malacanang last October 15.”
“There’s no turning back, peace is already in the air here,” Jaafar told
reporters but admitted a lot of things are still to be done.
“The good thing is we have started it right here, right now,” Jaafar added.

After the launching of Sajahatra Bangsamoro, the President is expected to
join the military initiated fluvial caravan for peace along Rio Grande de
Mindanao with 150 colorful bancas and 2,000 people participating.
Maj. Gen. Caesar Ordoyo, 6th ID chief, said the fluvial parade was the
military’s contribution to the attainment of peace in Mindanao.

From InterAksyon (Feb 10): KA POPOY REMEMBERED | Inspiring Filipino workers 12 years after his death

Friends and family commemorate the 12th death anniversary of Ka Popoy Lagman at the steps to Bahay ng Alumni in UP, where he was gunned down by still unknown assassins. BMP PHOTO

Merk Maguddayao is a cultural activist with the Sanlakas bloc and a founding member of Laya Sining. The views he expresses here are entirely his.Mentioning the name Popoy Lagman will draw mixed reactions from people who know him or of him.

To those he led and influenced, he was maverick master of polemics who never minced words in attacking the political follies of his party and comrades. He was fear-inspiring leader of the Alex Boncayao Brigade (ABB), the dreaded Manila-based communist militia known for its vigilante operations against “enemies of the masses." He was also the tireless and feisty working-class leader who fought for socialism as an alternative to capitalism.

The man headed the communist movement in Metro Manila during Martial Law and later defected from the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) after rejecting its Maoist and Stalinist orientation. He then formed an alternative Marxist movement that put premium on the emancipation of the working class and the formation of a workers-led government. He was felled down by an assassin’s bullet 12 years ago.

A dozen years hence, it is still uncertain who ordered his murder.

But for his close comrades at the Bukluran ng Manggagawang Pilipino (BMP), the labor federation he formed immediately after the split from the CPP in the early 1990s, who killed him does not matter anymore.

“Wala tayong inaasahang pagpupursigi mula sa ating gobyerno para makamit iyan. Ang tunay na hustisya para kay Ka Popoy ay makakamit lamang sa paglaya ng uring manggagawa (We cannot rely on any effort from the government to get that. The real justice for Ka Popoy will only be achieved in the liberation of the working class),” he said.

Here lies the Filemon “Ka Popoy” Lagman’s indelible legacy in history: He fought for neither his personal nor organizational gains per se. He stood for the class interest of the Filipino workers, and the workers of the world in general. He was not content in merely serving the people, or fighting merely for the liberation of the Philippines from US imperialism, or even in simply toppling a corrupt and incompetent president only to be replaced by other members from the elite class. He pushed for socialism, a system wherein political and economic power lies in the hands of the workers.

Prescience
Despite being “abrasive, harshly polemical, and brutally frank” (as his close companions described him), and much to the chagrin of the Jose Ma. Sison-led CPP, Ka Popoy was a Filipino revolutionary with a profound ideological sharpness and sincerity. At the risk of being “disciplined,” including the penalty of death, he did not shirk from criticizing the dogmatic strategy and tactics of the CPP, and later the adventurist tendencies of the post-split ABB.

He may not have had the biggest number of followers in the Philippine Left, but history has proven that the political line of his bloc has been consistently correct and prescient. These included the participation of the Manila-Rizal unit of the CPP in the 1978 Interim Batasang Pambansa elections, when the CPP central leadership called for boycott; the participation of CPP-led forces in the first EDSA Revolution, when the CPP insisted on its militarist strategy; the campaign against economic globalization in 1990s which resulted in trade liberalization, labor contractualization, and privatization of key industries in the Philippines and which in 2007 resulted in the still-raging global financial crisis; and at the tail end of his life, the “Resign All” call in EDSA II at a time when everybody called for Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo to replace the beleaguered Joseph Estrada.

Spending more than 30 years in the revolutionary movement, Ka Popoy’s prescience was founded not on whims but was a result of his vigor in mastering scientific socialism and dialectical materialism, his tool of analysis in assessing local, national, and even international situations. He did not parrot or copy-paste abstract dogmas and set them as solutions for all situations.

His ideological wizardry culminated in the publication of the Counter Thesis documents that unmasked the CPP’s dogmatic and unscientific and unrealistic program of protracted people’s war and the struggle for national democracy -- a document that has never been officially answered by the CPP up to this day.

Renewal and redemptionUnder Ka Popoy’s leadership, a new batch of activists were recruited to the Left after the split and a renewed call for radical change ushered in what Sonny Melencio, Ka Popoy’s long-time comrade and current chairman of the Partido Lakas ng Masa, termed as the “Second Period” in the Philippine Left.

This new batch, popularly called “Rejectionists” (or RJ, although the RJs would later further divide into more contending blocs), primarily defined themselves as revolutionary socialists, combined various forms of struggles and revolutionary tactics, and opened its doors to various forces in society, thus eschewing the sectarianism of the old.

After Ka Popoy’s death, the Philippine revolutionary movement may still be divided, and people may say that it has weakened, but the worldwide crisis of the capitalist order has worsened. As Ka Popoy predicted in 1999, “Globalization by its very nature transforms the economic turmoil in one nation into a world crisis.”

Despite the political ebb of the Philippine Left under the PNoy administration and the continuous backwardness of Philippine society, Ka Popoy's forecast offers a word of hope for those who desire for systemic change to usher in a humane world: “The first decade of the new millennium will be the eve of the socialist revolution in the era of globalization.”

Currently, the socialist movement is gaining strength in Latin America, with the establishment of socialist-led governments in Venezuela and Bolivia, the popularization of Left politics in other Latin American states, and the increasing protests in the United States, Europe, and the Middle East against the bankruptcy of the rule of the 1 percent.

The struggle for radical change might be far from over, and Ka Popoy would never have the chance to witness what he called “the Armageddon of capitalism,” but for as long as the exploitation of the many by the elite few exists, Ka Popoy’s determination and tenacity for change will continue to inspire the powerless.

FILE - In this Jan. 15, 2013 file photo, Khabir Malik, Commander of the Moro National Liberation Front, a Muslim rebel group which signed a 1996 peace pact with the Philippine government briefs his comrades at Patikul township, on the volatile island of Jolo in southern Philippines. After years of fighting the government from hidden jungle bases in the southern Philippines, an Al-Qaida-linked militant group is facing a new adversary: fellow Muslim insurgents who can match their guerrilla battle tactics and are eager to regain their lost stature by fighting the widely-condemned terrorist group. The emerging enmity between the Abu Sayyaf militants and the Moro rebels could bolster a decade-long campaign by the Philippines and Western countries to isolate the al-Qaida offshoot Abu Sayyaf, which remains one of the most dangerous groups in Southeast Asia.(AP Photo/Nickee Butlangan File) (The Associated Press)After years of fighting the government from hidden jungle bases in the southern Philippines, an Al-Qaida-linked militant group is facing a new adversary: fellow Muslim insurgents who can match their guerrilla battle tactics and are eager to regain their lost stature by fighting the widely condemned terrorist group.The emerging enmity between the Abu Sayyaf militants and the Moro rebels could bolster a decade-long campaign by the Philippines and Western countries to isolate the al-Qaida offshoot Abu Sayyaf, which remains one of the most dangerous groups in Southeast Asia.

In their first known major clash, Abu Sayyaf gunmen battled rebels from the larger Moro National Liberation Front in fighting early this week, leaving at least 22 combatants dead in the mountainous jungles on southern Jolo Island. A Moro rebel was beheaded — Abu Sayyaf's signature act.

Bonded by blood ties and war, the two armed groups had co-existed for years on Jolo in a predominantly Muslim region, where abject poverty, guns and weak law enforcement have combined in an explosive mix to fuel their rebellions and pockets of lawlessness.

The trouble began after the Moro rebels — seeking to regain their former dominance in the region — tried to arrange the release of several hostages held by the Abu Sayyaf, including a prominent Jordanian TV journalist and two European tourists. When the Abu Sayyaf commanders refused to free the hostages, Moro rebels launched an attack.

The Moro rebels are now trying to rescue the captives and end the Abu Sayyaf's reign, Moro commander Khabier Malik told The Associated Press.

"We breath the same air, speak the same language and live and fight in the same jungle," he said by telephone. "We're a bigger force and we cannot allow this small group to reign with this brutality."

For years, a shadowy alliance is believed to have existed between the groups. While the Moro rebels signed a limited peace deal with the government years ago, some Moro commanders are suspected of giving sanctuary to Abu Sayyaf men and carrying out kidnappings for ransom with them.

"Collusion between the Abu Sayyaf Group and MNLF members — many of whom are relatives — on Jolo is a major reason why large swaths of the island have been essentially ungovernable for years," said Bryony Lau of the Brussels-based International Crisis Group think tank. The government "should consider whether the recent clash has shifted relations between them in a way that could make it easier to isolate senior figures of the Abu Sayyaf Group."

But the rift offers no easy answers for the Philippines. Weaning the Moro rebels from hardened militants would mean a true government alliance with the rebels, some of whom are suspected of involvement in attacks on civilians and government forces.

Walking a tightrope amid the clashes, President Benigno Aquino III said the Moro offensive was not sanctioned by his government. But government officials also are not trying to stop the fighting, presumably hoping each group weakens the other. Police and soldiers have simply set up checkpoints to seal off the area around the fighting, trying to keep it from spilling into other rural areas.

Sulu provincial Governor Abdusakur Tan said he would allow the Moro attacks to continue, at least for now.

"They're cleaning their ranks. These kidnappers are either their former members or one of their own," Tan said.

The Moro National Liberation Front spearheaded an underground movement in the early 1970s for a separatist Islamic state. But it dropped its secessionist goal when it accepted limited autonomy for minority Muslims in the predominantly Roman Catholic nation's south, prompting key guerrillas to break away, including a Libyan-educated radical, who established the Abu Sayyaf.

Another major guerrilla bloc broke off from the original Moro group and formed the Moro Islamic Liberation Front, which has emerged as the country's largest Muslim rebel group.

The Moro rebels were not required to disarm under the landmark 1996 peace deal, allowing fighters to settle to their Jolo communities with their weapons. The accord also lacked a provision to formally enlist the rebels in hunting down criminals and terrorists straying into their strongholds, an oversight that may have helped foster collusion years later between the Moro rebels and the Abu Sayyaf.

Philippine officials forged such a pact in peace talks with the Moro Islamic Liberation Front with impressive results. Hunted by U.S.-backed Filipino troops in 2005, Abu Sayyaf chieftain Khadaffy Janjalani and other militants sought refuge in a stronghold Moro Islamic Liberation Front, which turned them away. Janjalani, then among the most-wanted terrorist suspects in Southeast Asia, was killed by troops the following year on Jolo.

The Abu Sayyaf — "Bearer of the Sword" in Arabic — was founded with funds and training believed to come from a collection of Asian and Middle Eastern radical groups, including al-Qaida. It came to U.S. attention in 2001 when it kidnapped three Americans, one of whom was beheaded, along with dozens of Filipinos and openly swore allegiance to Osama bin Laden's movement.

The kidnappings prompted Washington to deploy hundreds of troops in the south in 2002 to train Philippine forces and share intelligence, helping the military capture or kill most of the Abu Sayyaf's top commanders. Now without a central leader, the group has less than 400 armed fighters, who the military says are constantly on the run from U.S.-backed local offensives.

Philippine security officials attribute the Abu Sayyaf's resilience to the difficulty of hunting down small pockets of fighters by soldiers unfamiliar with the vast mountainous jungles of Jolo and outlying islands.

When they were taken hostage last year in the jungles of the Mindanao, Ramel Vela and Roland Letriro were pleasantly surprised when their al-Qaida-linked captors handed each of them a hotel-like comfort pack that included a bedsheet, a toothbrush, toothpaste, a glass, plates, spoons, and two sets of new clothes.

In the mountain encampments that would be their prison in Sulu province for nearly eight months, the recently released captives said they saw an Abu Sayyaf force of about 400 heavily armed fighters who puffed Marlboro cigarettes and enjoyed the luxury of cellphones, including some with cameras and access to email and Facebook.

Vela and Letriro's ordeal provides a glimpse into the Abu Sayyaf's resiliency despite a decade of American-backed local offensives that have battered the group, which is on a US list of terrorist organizations and remains one of Southeast Asia's most dangerous al-Qaida-inspired offshoots.

Rice, fish, beef, medicine, bottles of Coke, and other supplies filtered from the town market, which the militants visited from time to time, or from an unknown network of supporters into the Abu Sayyaf's far-flung lairs, according to Vela and Letriro, who were freed on Feb. 2, reportedly in exchange for ransom.

It's unclear where the militants got their weapons and ammunition.

“We didn't see all their weapons, but the ones I saw were very powerful,” Vela told The Associated Press in an interview Friday in Manila.

The 39-year-old cameraman was seized along with audio technician Letriro and veteran Jordanian TV journalist Baker Atyani by Abu Sayyaf militants he said they had hoped to interview in Sulu, about 950 kilometers (590 miles) south of Manila.

Atyani, who gained prominence for interviewing Osama bin Laden in Afghanistan a few months before the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, remains in the hands of Abu Sayyaf gunmen. But a Manila Bulletin source said Atyani was already released in exchange for P100-million ransom.

Vela said about 400 militants armed with assault rifles, explosives and machetes were split into several groups, which alternately held them in different encampments of bamboo huts nestled amid mangosteen trees and coconut groves.

The gunmen stayed in community-like encampments with their wives and children, who were immediately moved away, along with the hostages, at the first sign of a looming military attack.

While most of the militants were barely educated, some did attend college and others kept to a conservative Muslim way of life. They prayed in a makeshift mosque before dawn, at noon and early evening each day, helping the captives keep a rough track of time, Vela said.

In one encampment, women were completely covered with gowns and religious veils, which left only their eyes exposed. The men there never smoked or played cards, unlike in the other camps, according to the two former captives.

Once, the two asked the gunmen what they were fighting for and were told they wanted to seize the predominantly Muslim provinces of Sulu, Basilan, and Tawi Tawi and form a separate Islamic state. The gunmen have demanded control of the three provinces in exchange for the freedom of two Caucasians, who they claimed were separately being held in Sulu's jungles, Vela said, adding that he and Letriro never saw other hostages aside from Atyani, who was separated from them five days after they were held.

Gunmen kidnapped Ewold Horn of the Netherlands and Lorenzo Vinciguerra of Switzerland while on a bird watching trip to nearby Tawi-Tawi province in February last year and took them by boat to Sulu, police say.

Vela and Letriro said they were treated well, and added that their long captivity in the jungle-clad mountains at times felt like a break.

“It's a vacation that was not relaxing and came with a lot of explosions,” Vela said, describing close brushes with gunbattles between troops and the militants.

But there were constant fears of meeting a brutal death.

The militants passed the time by calling and fiddling with their cellphones, which they charged using a portable solar panel, they said.

Some of the gunmen owned up to three cellphones each, which they used to watch videos of their clashes with government forces, including the beheading of slain soldiers. The two captives said they were horrified when they were shown the videos on the phones.

Philippine Army troops and MILF rebels share
a meal in the southern Philippines. And forces from both sides listen to their
commanders. (Mindanao Examiner Photo - Ferdinandh Carbrera)

Philippine soldiers and Muslim rebels who are currently negotiating peace Manila
have joined forces to protect President Benigno Aquino who is visiting
Maguindanao province on Monday.

Aquino is expected to meet with leaders
of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front rebels and inspect government projects for
Muslim communities.

Col. Manolito Orense, commander of the 603rd Infantry
Brigade, said the army and MILF are now prepared for Aquino’s arrival.

“Basically ang magiging set-up nito ay joint effort, may eleven areas na
babantayan, mga critical or strategic areas na gusto din nilang protektahan,
joint ito and we will have one squad of soldiers from the 37th Infantry
Battalion and one squad from the MILF, so one is to one tayo diyan,” he said.

On the part of the MILF, rebel leader Gordon Zaipullah, said they will
deploy forces around their bases as an added blanket of protection not only for
Aquino and his entourage, but the civilians as well.

For the first time, former protagonists have banded to ensure
the safety of Aquino while he is inside MILF stronghold. Side by side, army
soldiers and rebels also held a “boodle fight,” a military slang for a meal laid
on a long table and eaten with bares hands.

THE three foreigners who were rescued by Moro
National Liberation Front fighters last Tuesday are safe and will soon be
reunited with their families, according to an MNLF official who arrived with
Chairman Nur Misuari on Saturday.

Gapul Hajirul, MNLF political director, said the three foreign hostages are in the custody of different MNLF ground commanders and are being held in undisclosed locations in Sulu.

“The hostages are safe in the custody of our commanders on the ground and they will soon be reunited with their loved ones,” said Hajirul, who had just returned after traveling with Misuari to Sudan for the eight session of the Parliamentary Union of Islamic Cooperation in Khartoum.

Misuari himself said he needed to be updated on the most recent developments about the three hostages, but Hajirul said the MNLF did not want to bring them out because some parties are interested in grabbing credit for the rescue while other groups are out to abduct them anew.

The three foreigners have been in the hands of the Abu Sayyaf for months and were rescued in Patikul, Sulu on February 5 as MNLF fighters pursued their abductors.

“Ayaw namin ilabas yan dahil maraming naghahangad na grupo diyan [We don’t want to bring them out because many groups also want them],” said Hajirul, who declined to confirm the hostages’ nationalities purportedly because of security concerns.

He said MNLF representatives have already commenced coordination with the embassies of the rescued foreigners for the proper turnover of the hostages, but he declined to reveal further details.

Meanwhile, Hajirul said the call of Malacañang Palace for the MNLF to explain why it was running after the Abu Sayyaf without the government’s consent was alarming because the government could not even stop the Abu Sayyaf, much less restore peace and order in Sulu.

“What can we do when the peace of Sulu is at stake,” Hajirul said of remarks attributed to Presidential Communications Development Secretary Ramon Carandang who supposedly said the MNLF was not cleared by the government to launch attacks in the south.

“I’m sure that at some point, some explanations will be made,” Carandang said in a Palace press briefing.

Misuari, for his part, said in a separate briefing that foreigners and tourists in Sulu have been suffering under Abu Sayyaf banditry.

“These foreigners and tourists have been suffering severely from the Abu Sayyaf,” Misuari told journalists upon his arrival on board a Qatar Airlines flight from Cairo, Egypt.

The 70-year-old Moro leader lamented that the government is ignoring the crimes of the Abu Sayyaf and Moros are very alarmed by the state of affairs in Mindanao and the acts of the MNLF are only meant to protect Bangsa Moro people.

“We are not doing these for the government, but only our people, to restore peace in Mindanao without government initiatives,” Misuari said, adding that Sulu cannot be used as a haven for criminals. “The MNLF can’t accept that, whoever they are.”

From the Manila Times (Feb 10): ‘Seizing people, selling them like cows against Islam’

Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) chairman Nur Misuari on Saturday has declined to talk about the MNLF’s continue attack against the extremist Abu Sayyaf bandits in Sulu province.

Misuari just said that kidnapping people and selling them like cows is intolerable and could not be accepted.

“We don’t like to harbor these criminal activities on our homeland because this is against the law of God; against the law of Islam and against the Koran,” Misuari said that shortly after he arrived at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport, where he attended as a permanent observer of the Parliamentary meeting of the 52 member-countries of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation in Karthoum, Sudan.

He also refused to speak regarding the development of the assault and the three foreign hostages that reportedly are now in the custody of the MNLF.

“I don’t know. I just arrived. I’ll make an inquiry to this problem,” Misuari told newsmen.

On Tuesday, Malacañang announced that the government did not sanction the attack by armed men of the MNLF against the kidnappers believed to be members of the Abu Sayyaf.

Reports said that MNLF went to the Abu Sayyaf base in Patikul, Jolo to demand the release of Jordanian journalist Baker Atyani and his Filipino crew.

The clash broke out after the kidnappers freed cameraman Ramelito Vela and audio technician Rolando Letrero after eight months of captivity.

Misuari said that the MNLF, which signed a peace treaty with the Philippine government in 1996, has totally ignore and condemn the framework agreement made by the government and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF).

“The framework agreement has nothing to do with the peace agreement. It is an offshoot, I would say, of the conspiracy between the Philippine government and the Malaysian government to derail our peace treaty agreement,” Misuari said.

From the Manila Times (Feb 10): Nur’s MNLF: Mother of all Moro factions

The Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) is respected as the “mother of all Moro factions” including the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) that bolted out due to the failure of the Government of the Philippines (GPH) from the time of the Marcos dictatorship until today to fully implement the 1976 Tripoli Agreement and the 1996 Final Peace Agreement.

The other Moro factions, among them the MILF that was headed at that time by Ustadz Salamat Hashim, even rebuffed or accused Prof. Nur Misuari (founder and chairman of the MNLF) of selling out the Bangsamoro national sovereignty and integrity as a nation for talking peace with the government that finally led to the signing of the Final Peace Agreement in Malacanang on September 2, 1996.

Once the Final Peace Agreement between the Philippine Government and the MNLF was forged and signed, the government did immediately implement the most fundamental work it had to do.

It set in motion the passage of laws that would allow the Filipino Muslims to have the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao.

Screened for qualifications and then trained, former MNLF soldiers were integrated to the Philippine National Police and the Armed Forces of the Philippines.

By and large—despite several items of discontent, such as the provision of adequate funding to the autonomous region and the proper amount of attention to improving the economy of the Moro majority provinces—the Final Peace Agreement between the government and MNLF was working.

The succession of governors and officials of the ARMM have been largely MNLF leaders.

That is why such an important contribution to peace and stability in Mindanao introduced by the MNLF, the Oplan Purging for Peace, has been supported by local governments and coordinated by the MNLF with them and with the Philippine government military and police.

Local government and military actionsUstadz Murshi said the Oplan Purging, the Operation Purging for Peace, was not only properly coordinated with the local government officials in Sulu, even the masses or the civilians of Sulu have fully supported the move of the MNLF to totally clean the province of the perennial evil of kidnapping.

“The Tausugs of Sulu are now fed up with this criminal acts of kidnapping being perpetrated by the Abu Sayyaf. Enough is enough, it has to be stopped once and for all for the sake of peace in Sulu,” Ustadz Murshi emphasized.

“In Sulu, the PNP, AFP and local government officials and the Moro masses are supportive of the MNLF OPP to wipe out the Abu Sayyaf so that there will be no more kidnapping and peace and development can take off,” he said.

On Friday, Ustadz Murshi met ARMM Police regional director Chief Supt Noel de los Reyes. The MNLF Secretary General briefed the police general on the MNLF action against the Abu Sayyaf. He said the ARMM police chief fully understood the punitive action being done by the MNLF against the Abu Sayyaf.

Ustadz Murshi added that Chief Supt. delos Reyes even advised the MNLF to file appropriate charges in the court of law against the kidnappers.

Chairman Misuari’s meeting with Baker’s familyMeanwhile, according to the MNLF secretary general, Chairman Nur Misuari met the family of the Jordanian hostage Baker Atyani in Cairo, Egypt.

Misuari had just returned to Manila on Saturday (Feb 9) from Khartoum, Sudan after, attending the 8th Conference of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) Parliamentary Union.

Atyani’s family reportedly acclaimed and lauded the MNLF’s move to launch the OPP and its daring engagement to rescue the hostages from the “cage” of the kidnappers.

On the other hand, OIC Secretary General Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu sent words of condolence to the MNLF on the death of eight MNLF soldiers in the fight with the Abu Sayyaf on Sunday.

“The MNLF hates and abhors war; it renounces war as means to attain blessed end, peace, freedom and prosperity. For war is inhuman, catastrophic, destructive, and barbaric,” Ustadz Murshi explained.

MNLF will only use force as the last recourse to help the people and to maintain the integrity of the Moro Ummah, he added.

As to why the MNLF launched the Oplan Purging, he told this Correspondent that the launching was based on the these reasons:

1) There is a clamor, a vociferous cry, of the Moro masses most particularly the underdogs and victims of the spate of kidnappings in Sulu.

2) The appeals, calls, and demands of the peace and human rights advocates in the Philippines and throughout the world to put an end to all forms of criminal acts and crimes against humanity.

3) The MNLF seriously obeys the divine behest, so that from its birth has adopted an anti-kidnapping policy, as evidenced by the active participation of the MNLF in the past, diplomatically and militarily, in securing the release and freedom of hostages and some of them were even Catholic priests.

Finally, Ustadz Murshi said in compliance with Islamic injunctions and as matter of policy, the MNLF despite the bloody encounter that already occurred, the MNLF will continue to uphold its peace advocacy and “Islamic diplomatic persuasion” in dealing with the kidnappers for the safe release and freedom of the hostages.

From the Manila Times (Feb 10): MNLF declares ‘all-out war’ against Abu Sayyaf

Sulu operations done in the name of peace and coordinated with government militaryJOLO, SULU: The Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) on Saturday solemnly announced through The Manila Times that, in the name of peace and following the tenets of Islam, it is now in a “state of war” against the terrorist al-Qaeda linked Abu Sayyaf Group (ASG).

MNLF has launched a massive operation against ASG in Patikul, Sulu. It will not stop the offensive until the terror group’s kidnapping and drug trafficking activities are completely terminated and cleaned up.

In an exclusive interview, the MNLF hierarchy, represented by Central Committee Secretary General Ustadz Ibrahim Murshi, told The Manila Times that time is up for the ASG. They should make up their mind about stopping their criminal, unIslamic activities and unconditionally release without further delay all their remaining hostages both foreign nationals and Filipinos.

Murshi said the launching of an all-out war against the Abu Sayyaf is in line with the directive of MNLF Chairman Nur Misuari to intensify the Operation Purging for Peace (OPP) in Sulu.

He explained that the OPP’s program is properly coordinated with Armed Forces of the Philippines, the Philippine National Police, and the local government units in Sulu.

He said, in fact, the other day he met Police Chief Supt. Noel delos Reyes, the regional director of the Police Regional Office of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (PRO-ARMM) who arrived here in Jolo and briefed the ARMM police chief on the present situation of the war of the MNLF against the Abu Sayyaf.

Present situation of the war

As of Saturday, the situation in Sulu, particularly in the town of Patikul which is known to be the hub of the Abu Sayyaf here, is still very tense.

People have vacated their homes for fear of being caught in the crossfire of the gun battle between the MNLF forces belonging to the Asadullah National Task Force (ANTF) headed by MNLF commander, Ustadz Ha­bier Malik.

There was a firefight last Sunday, February 3, at Sangay village, Patikul, between the kidnappers from among the ranks of the Abu Sayyaf and the MNLF’s ANTF. Both sides suffered casualties.

Confirmed reports by reliable sources state that the total death toll was 18. Of these, 10 were ASG combatants. Many ASG men were wounded.

Eight were soldiers of the MNLF’s ANTF died and five were were wounded.

Ustadz Murshi confirmed these numbers of MNLF casualties.

All MNLF people now consider the ASG as a mortal enemy.

“We are now in a ;state of war’ against the Abu Sayyaf Group,” Ustadz Murshi stressed solemnly.

He said the kidnappers got rattled and scattered after suffering heavy casualties. As a matter of policy, the MNLF will continue to wage war, pursue the manhunt for ASG kidnappers for the sake of peace and humanity.

Asked by the Times when the war against the Abu Sayyaf would end and if there is any chance of reconciliation, Ustadz Murshi reiterated that the war will go on indefinitely as long as kidnapping still exists in Sulu.

“How can you reconcile with kidnappers who kidnap the innocent people in exchange for ransom money?” he asked.

Ustadz Murshi, who earned his academic degree in Islamic studies in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, explained that kidnapping is anathema to civilized world. Not only that, kidnapping is a crime against humanity and inhuman in nature for suppressing the freedom of movement of an individual, he further said.

MNLF’s Oplan Purging for PeaceThe MNLF secretary general said Operation Purging for Peace (OPP) is a flagship program of the organization. It is not a new endeavor of the MNLF. It was started in 2011.

As to the time frame of the implementation OPP, the MNLF secretary-general said it will continue to move forward daringly until all kidnapping activity in Morolandia is completely uprooted and cleaned up, Ustadz Murshi pointed out.

“This MNLF war against the kidnappers who are mostly Abu Sayyaf is just in the beginning phase and this will go on indefinitely until we have completely wiped out these kidnappers victimizing innocent civilians,” Ibrahim warned.

Asked what made the MNLF hierarchy intensify this OPP, Ibrahim said it’s no non-sense implementation has three prime and pressing motivations. These are “the pitiful clamor of the Moros particularly the families of the victims of the kidnappings in Sulu, the appeal and demand of the peace and human rights advocates domestically, nationally and internationally, and the mandate of Islam as enshrined in the Hadith of the Holy Prophet Mohammad (Peace be upon him)— ‘Help [reform] your brother who oppresses by (preventing him from doing oppression) or help your oppressed brother.’ ”

Meanwhile, among the foreign nationals who are reportedly still in the hands of the dreaded Abu Sayyaf are Baker Atyani who is a Palestinian but has adopted the Jordanian citizenship.

Atyani is the Bureau Chief for South & East Asia of Al Arabiya News Channel, a television station based in Dubai.

Prior to his disappearance in the town of Jolo in June 12 last year, he was able to interview some of the Muslim leaders in the country. Among them were former Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao Governor Dr. Parouk Hussin; Dr. Firdausi Abbas, chair of the Bangsa Moro Party; and Hadji Al-Hussin Cluang, who was at one time the MNLF Field Marshall.

The other foreign national in Abu Sayyaf custody is the Japanese identified as Toshio Ito, who as reported in a Times news story to have converted to Islam.

Among the Filipino hostages who are still in ASG captivity of the ASG is Edmund Gumbahali, a Tausug who ironically hails from Patikul, Sulu, and should be spared by Tausug ASG members. Gumbahali used to be the provincial director of the Philippine Information Agency (PIA) in the province of Sulu.

From the Philippine Daily Inquirer (Feb 9): Europe to provide more aid to Mindanao

The European Union is set to roll out new poverty alleviation programs this year
in Mindanao in support of the peace negotiations between government and the Moro
Islamic Liberation Front.

Guy Ledoux, ambassador of the EU in the Philippines, also expressed optimism
about the progress of the talks following last year’s landmark signing of a
preliminary framework agreement, paving the way for the creation of a Bangsamoro
juridical entity.

“As far as I know, since the framework agreement was signed, there have been
regular talks between the two peace panels in Kuala Lumpur on a monthly basis; I
think they are making progress. We are fully confident that we are on the right
track,” Ledoux said at a recent press briefing.

Ledoux said Mindanao would be a priority area in EU’s allocation of P2
billion in fresh assistance to the Philippines this year – aid that Europe
sustains despite challenging times for European economies.

He said funding for Mindanao would continue supporting poverty alleviation
programs in the region, initiated last year through some P300 million in grants
funneled through the World Food Program.

“We have been very much involved in supporting the political process as well
as providing assistance on the island. We aim for peace dividends for all the
population and it (EU) is likely to put money in those types of projects,”
Ledoux said.

Part of the fresh funds will also go to the Philippines’ health sector,
particularly to programs of the Department of Health aimed at providing
universal health care.

The EU is among the Philippines’ largest donors, second only to Japan with
roughly P5.9 billion in aid disbursements in 2011, 90 percent of which consisted
of “direct grants rather than loans.”

This was on top of bilateral aid provided by individual European countries,
notably the United Kingdom, Spain, Italy, France and Germany.

Spain, for instance, also provides development aid to the southern
Philippines, particularly for projects in northern Mindanao and the Zamboanga
Peninsula, said Spanish Ambassador to the Philippines Jorge Domecq.

Germany also provided some P40 million in 2012 to for technical assistance on
environmental protection, rural development, climate change mitigation and
financial cooperation, said its Ambassador Joachim Heidorn.

The French government “expanded the scope and magnitude of aid” for the
Philippines in 2010, recognizing the country’s importance in the Southeast Asian
region, said French Ambassador Gilles Garachon.

French support focuses on exchanges between French and Filipino students and
researchers and funding for the development of Philippine cinema.

Some 150 motorized boats colorfully decorated and carrying about 2,000 people
will greet President Benigno Aquino III when he makes a side trip to this city
before proceeding to the headquarters of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front
(MILF) in nearby Sultan Kudarat, Maguindanao, on Monday.

The boats are taking part in the fluvial
parade that will start from Taviran River and go all the way to Kalanganan River
here to welcome Mr. Aquino, the first Philippine president to visit an MILF
stronghold in peace.

The first President to enter the same MILF
camp then named Abubakar (now Camp Darapanan) was Joseph Estrada, but that was
after the military had bombed peace out of Mindanao in 2000 under his all-out
war policy on the Moro secessionist movement.

Mr. Aquino is visiting the MILF main camp
in Sultan Kudarat to launch Sajahatra Bangsamoro, a social development program
for the 12,000-strong MILF and Moro communities.

After speaking to residents of Kalanganan
village, Mr. Aquino will be sent off by well-wishers, including soldiers and
Moro officials, to Camp Darapanan during the fluvial parade.

Col. Dickson Hermoso, speaking for the 6th
Infantry Division (ID), said the fluvial parade was actually a
military-initiated event and was supposed to be held on Jan. 29. But it was
reset for Monday because the President would be in Davos, Switzerland, for the
World Economic Forum annual meeting.

New
approach to peace

Hermoso said after his speech, Mr. Aquino
would open a football match between soldiers and MILF rebels at the military’s
Camp Siongco in Datu Odin, Maguindanao.

“Other sports activities for the day will
also be held with participants coming from government offices and other military
and police units,” he said.

Maj. Gen. Caesar Ronnie Ordoyo, 6th ID
commander, said the fluvial parade and the games were part of the military’s
manifestation of support for the peace process.

“This is a new military approach to
winning peace,” he said, adding that negotiations, such as those with the MILF,
are the most “humane and inexpensive” formula for peace.

Ghadzali Jaafar, MILF political affairs chief, said
the MILF believed in the sincerity of only three Philippine presidents in the
efforts to resolve the Moro conflict.

He said they were Mr. Aquino, his mother, former
President Corazon Aquino, and former President Fidel Ramos.

Jaafar said the Moro people only got the
attention they deserved from President Aquino while his mother started the peace
negotiations with Moro rebels.

Ramos, on the other hand, signed a peace
agreement with the Moro National Liberation Front and called on the MILF to do
the same, he said.

Enough money

Cabinet Secretary Rene Almendras announced
here on Thursday Mr. Aquino’s visit would be for the launching of Sajahatra
Bangsamoro.

CAN’T GET ANY MORE
ROYAL THAN THIS “Ginakit” boats, which are traditional water vessels used by
precolonial Muslim tribal chiefs for royal functions and in visiting their
territorial jurisdictions, are the very same boats to welcome President Aquino
on his historic visit on Monday to the heartland of the Moro Islamic Liberation
Front in Sultan Kudarat in Maguindanao. Photo coutesy of Cotabato City
government

“We have enough money for peace-building,”
Almendras said.

Almendras said the government knew that
development and progress are not possible without genuine and lasting peace, the
reason that it strove for a peace agreement with the MILF.

The government and the MILF signed a
preliminary peace deal, the Framework Agreement on the Bangsamoro, in Malacañang
in August last year.

The final peace agreement will be signed
this year after the annexes to the preliminary accord have been
finalized.

Strong relationship

“I’m so proud of the people on both sides
of the table. The people who are firing guns at each other are now sitting
together at one table and talking about how to make this work. That is a victory
already,” Almendras said.

Mike Pasigan, MILF spokesperson for
Sajahatra Bangsamoro, said the government program was “proof of the strong relationship being built by the government and the MILF toward real and lasting
peace and development for the envisioned Bangsamoro region.”

“This is a big confidence-building measure
in the peace process. The good relationship between the two parties, if it
continues, will definitely lead to lasting peace in which the whole country will benefit,” he said.

Almendras said that under the social
development concept, “government agencies are pulling their weight, doing
everything that they can” to improve the lives
of the Moro people.

He said other groups should not be jealous
of the attention the government is giving to the MILF and the Moro communities
because the programs being implemented for them, such as Sajahatra Bangsamoro,
“will also benefit the entire country.”

“There’s even a time dimension; it will
not only benefit the people of today but also the generation that will come
after today,” Almendras said.

EU
partner in peace process

The Philippines’ international partners in
the peace process are helping to push the framework agreement forward.

The European Union is rolling out new
development and poverty-easing programs for Mindanao this year in support of the
preliminary peace deal between the Aquino administration and the MILF.

Guy Ledoux, ambassador of the EU
Delegation in the Philippines, said he was optimistic about the progress of the
peace talks following the signing of the preliminary deal last year.

“As far as I know, since the framework
agreement was signed, there have been regular talks between the two peace panels
in Kuala Lumpur on a monthly basis. I think they are making progress,” Ledoux
said in a recent press briefing.

Ledoux said Mindanao will be a priority
area in the EU’s allocation of P2 billion in fresh assistance for the
Philippines this year.

He said funding for Mindanao would
continue for poverty reduction programs in the region, initiated last year
through some P300 million in grants funneled through the World Food Programme.

“We have been very much involved in
supporting the political process, as well as providing assistance on the
island. We aim for peace dividends for all the population and [the EU] is
likely to put money in those types of projects,” Ledoux said.

Part of the fresh funds will go to health
services, particularly to programs of the Department of Health.

Other
donors

The European Union is among the
Philippines’ largest donors, second only to Japan, with roughly P5.9 billion in
aid disbursements in 2011, 90 percent of which are “direct grants rather than
loans.”

This is on top of bilateral aid provided
by individual European countries, notably the United Kingdom, Spain, Italy,
France and Germany.

Spain also provides development aid to
Mindanao, particularly for projects in Northern Mindanao and Zamboanga
Peninsula, according to Spanish Ambassador to the Philippines Jorge Domecq.

The Chinese Navy has concluded weeklong drills in the disputed West Philippine
Sea (South China Sea), activities that caused the Philippines to raise “serious
concern” with respect to efforts to settle the territorial dispute through
arbitration by the United Nations.

The state-run news agency Xinhua reported over the weekend that the Chinese
People’s Liberation Army’s Navy fleet finished patrols and training in the
contested waters on Thursday following drills on interdiction and anti-piracy
operations.

The Xinhua report also revealed that the fleet of three ships—the missile
destroyer Qingdao and the missile frigates Yantai and Yancheng— patrolled the
Spratly Islands (Nansha), the resource-rich island chain claimed entirely by
China as against claims to only parts of it by the Philippines, Vietnam,
Malaysia, Brunei and Taiwan.

“During a patrol of the Nansha Islands and their adjacent waters, the fleet
maintained a high level of combat readiness and carried out drills related to
expelling ships that infringe on China’s territorial waters, as well as carried
out an anti-piracy drill,” Xinhua said in a report Friday.

Xinhua said the ships also “extended New Year greetings” to Chinese military
officers and soldiers deployed on Chinese-occupied parts of the Spratlys ahead
of the Lunar New Year celebrations this coming week.

The report said the deployment was within the “territorial waters” of China,
the boundaries of which are known to overlap with maritime boundaries of the
Philippines and other countries with claims to territories in the West
Philippine Sea, the name give by the Manila government to the part of the South
China its claims to be part of Philippine territory.

The Chinese naval fleet started the exercises on Jan. 31 and entered through
the Bashi Channel, an international sea lane between Luzon and Taiwan.

The Philippines had expressed serious concern over the new patrols and called
on China anew to respect and keep off its established maritime boundaries within
the disputed waters.

The country has sought UN intervention to stop Chinese incursions in its
claimed parts of the South China Sea, filing an arbitration plea last month with
the world body’s arbitral tribunal.

The legal action asked the UN to declare as “invalid” China’s “nine-dash
line” claim, its basis for asserting ownership over all of the Spratly Islands,
including those closer to the Philippine coast.

The move also sought to stop Chinese occupation and construction on smaller
islands within the Philippines’ maritime boundaries.

China has said it would not participate in the proceedings, reiterating its
“indisputable sovereignty” over the waters. The Philippines is, however,
confident that the process will push through as it is a compulsory procedure
under the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea.

From the CPP Website (Feb 9): Statement on the January 27 La Castellana incident

The CPP fully acknowledges the self-criticism of the Central Negros Front Operations Command (Leonardo Panaligan Command) of the New People’s Army and its decision to indemnify the family of the civilians who were caught in the crossfire that broke out last January 27 at Barrio Puso, La Castellana, Negros Occidental.

Concerned parties who were aggrieved in the course of the La Castellana incident can seek redress under the Rules of the NPA, the policies of the Democratic People’s Government and provisions of the Comprehensive Agreement on Respect for Human Rights and International Humanitarian Law (CARHRIHL).

It is an outstanding policy of the NPA to give prime consideration to the welfare and safety of civilians at all times. Such a policy compel the NPA to suspend or call-off an ambush or some other armed action in the face of even the slightest possibility that a civilian might get hurt.

In the face of the vagaries of war, it is praiseworthy for the NPA-LPC to acknowledge and make amends for its shortcomings. By acknowledging its shortcomings, the NPA-LPC can continue to strengthen its unity with the people. Such self-criticism and rectification is the mark of a true army of the people. It is an assurance that the NPA will work hard to prevent such errors in the future.

From the CPP Website (Feb 9): Oppose Aquino policy of endangerment and targeting of civilians under Oplan Bayanihan

The Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) condemns the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) and the Aquino regime for its prevailing war policy of deliberately endangering the lives of civilians and making civilian communities targets of the AFP’s Oplan Bayanihan war of suppression.

Over the past three years under the Aquino regime, the AFP has used the signboard of “peace and development” to undertake military operations that target civilians. The AFP carries out its Oplan Bayanihan operations against rural communities of peasants and minority peoples, especially those which the military suspect are sympathetic, supportive or active in the revolutionary cause. Under the Oplan Bayanihan, the AFP carries out the following acts which endanger at target civilians:

Saturation drives in communities, with armed soldiers violating the people’s domiciles by staying in their homes.

Setting up of military detachments within civilian communities, making use of day-care centers, schools, barangay halls and other civilian infrastructure as soldiers’ barracks.

Requiring civilians to render compulsory labor in building military encampments, erecting enclosures, digging trenches and the like under threat of being treated as suspects.

Subjecting to surveillance, abduction and torture residents who are active in democratic organizing and mass struggles.

Supplanting civilian agencies in the delivery of medical and dental services in a vain attempt at covering up military brutalities.

Forcibly conscripting civilians, especially young children, as guides for its military operations.

Allowing, and even forcing, civilians to ride in military vehicles with armed soldiers, police and paramilitaries.

The CPP holds the Aquino regime and its armed forces culpable for violations of international rules of war in the endangerment and targeting of civilians. Such acts of endangerment and targeting of civilians in the conduct of its war against the people’s revolutionary armed resistance should be thoroughly exposed and opposed.

The CPP calls on international humanitarian agencies, human rights organizations, religious associations and lawyers’ groups to give prime attention to the situation of civilians being endangered and targeted by Aquino regime and its armed forces’ Oplan Bayanihan war of suppression.

From the MILF Website (Feb 9): Gov’t, MILF to organize Third Party Monitoring Team (TPMT) soon

The peace panels of the Government of the Philippines (GPH) and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) will formally organize the Third Party Monitoring Team (TPMT) within one month after they created it last January 25.

This was learned from Jun Mantawil, head of the MILF peace panel Secretariat, who told Luwaran today that the TPMT will be composed of 5-7 members.

He explained that the TPMT shall be headed by an international eminent person and two others may be appointed as additional eminent persons by the Parties.

He added that there will be four members: two international non-government organizations, one to be nominated by the GPH and another by the MILF, and two domestic NGOs, one to be nominated by the GPH and the other by the MILF. All members are to be mutually decided.

He said the task of the TPMT is to monitor, review and assess the implementation of all signed agreements, primarily the Framework Agreement on the Bangsamoro and its Annexes.

Mantawil also disclosed that the MILF is seriously considering someone from Europe to head the TPMT but added that the MILF will most likely nominate one Muslim eminent person and at least one of the INGOs to be selected from Muslim INGOs which has involvement in the resolution of global conflicts.

However, when pressed to provide details, Mantawil merely shrugged off his shoulder and said: “I don’t have the authority to make any further details.”

The GPH and MILF peace panels will meet again this month to discuss the remaining unresolved on the four Annexes: power-sharing, wealth-sharing, Transitional Arrangement and Modalities, and Normalization.

Although President Benigno Aquino III will be making history when he visits the main camp of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front on Monday to launch a program providing basic services to former combatants and their families is, he needs to see for himself the true picture of Mindanao if he wishes lasting peace in the south, a ranking MILF official said.

“Dapat tunay at accurate information nakakarating sa kaniya, hindi yung censored dahil sa personal interests (He should receive accurate information, not information censored because of personal interests),” MILF vice chairman for political affairs Ghadzali Jaafar told News5 in an interview. Jaafar called the launch of the Sajahatra Bangsamoro is merely symbolic and said Aquino will need to work hard to make peace a reality.“Dapat may pagkain ... may trabaho ang Bangsamoro ... at hindi marginalized ... inaabuso at kinakalimutan ... (There should be food … jobs for the Bangsamoro … they should not remain marginalized … abused and forgotten…)” Jafaar said.

Aquino will join MILF chairman Al Haj Murad Ebrahim at the launching of the services program at the Bangsamoro Leadership and Management Institute, just outside Camp Darapanan.

The MILF, established in the early 1980s from a faction that broke away from the Moro National Liberation Front, had been waging a struggle for secession until it tempered its goal to autonomy in the course of peace negotiations with government.

Late last year, both parties signed a framework agreement that took the negotiations closer to a final peace pact.

Among others, the framework agreement paves the way for the creation of a new Bangsamoro entity.
Mohagher Iqbal, chairman of the MILF negotiating panel, said Aquino’s visit was important because it would show “sincerity.”

“Pag salita lang kasi hindi, kasi kongkreto, hindi nakikita ng mga tao (Mere words are not concrete and cannot be seen by the people),” he said.

Like Jaafar, Iqbal said genuine self-determination for the Bangsamoro still has a long way to go before it can be attained.

To achieve this, he added, the “political track should be prioritized ahead of the economic issues.”
Government peace panel chair Miriam Coronel-Ferrer said the government is doing all it can to ensure the success of the Bangsamoro framework agreement.

She said there is no reason to doubt Aquino’s determination to realize peace in Mindanao because he has involved himself personally in the process.

NUR MISUARI. Back
from Cairo, MNLF Nur Misuari accuses the
government of conspiracy with Malaysia.
Photo by Jedwin Ilobrera

Arriving from Cairo, Egypt on Saturday, February 9, Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) chairman leader Nur Misuari accused the government of conspiring with Malaysia to derail peace treaty agreements, even as clashes between the Abu Sayyaf Group (ASG) and the MNLF in Sulu have subsided.

He had previously criticized the Frameword Agreement between the Aquino administration and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front signed in October 2012. The accord is supposed to lead to the creation of a Bangsamoro political identity, replacing the failed Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao.

Misuari said the peace framework agreement would cause a "big war in Mindanao." The MNLF, under Misuari's leadership, signed a peace agreement with the national government during the administration of former President Fidel V. Ramos.

Habib Mujahab Hashim, chairman of an MNLF breakaway faction, the Islamic Command Council (ICC), told Rappler that tension in Sulu has died down, suggesting that Misuari must have talked to MNLF commanders.

"Hindi na nagkaroon ng labanan uli (Fighting has stopped). He must have given instruction to MNLF to delay resumption of the fighting," Hashim said.

Hashim earlier told a local radio station that Misuari himself gave orders to his field commander, Habier Malik, to make war with the Abu Sayyaf once negotiations for the release of hostages fail.The Abu Sayyaf released last Saturday, February 2, two Filipino hostages who served as crew of Jordanian journalist Baker Atyani. Atyani remains in the custody of the terrorist group.

Unverified reportAsked about the veracity of reports that foreign hostages, including Atyani, are now with the MNLF -- after they were supposedly rescued following an encounter in Patikul, Sulu, Misuari said he has yet to be briefed by his people from the field. He could not confirm the reports.

Early reports said the MNLF was in talks with the ASG led by Radullan Sahilon. Two days after the release of the Filipino hostages, about 20 were reported dead from clashes between the MNLF and ASG. The conflict has displaced some 2,000 people or 349 families in Sulu following the release of the two Filipino kidnap victims in Patikul.

From Manila, Misuari is flying to Zamboanga to meet MNLF leaders, according to Hashim.

"Pagdating niya rito, I will see him. He wants to know (the) situation in Sulu. We will wait for him ano mang mapag-usapan namin regarding the situation -- kung paanoma-solve iyon kasi nagkaroon na ng patayan," Hashim said. (When he arrives, I will see him. He wants to know the situation in Sulu. We will wait for him whatever the agenda will be regarding the situation -- how to solve it since there had been killings.)

Politically motivated?
The MNLF had earlier denied that Misuari involved their organization in efforts to rescue Atyani to boost his candidacy.

The clashes between the MNLF and ASG were alleged to be election-related as Misuari is expected to run in the 2013 polls. Running as an independent, he will be up against ARMM officer-in-charge Mujiv Hataman and former Sultan Kudarat Rep Pakung Mangudadatu of the United Nationalist Alliance for the post of ARMM governor. Hataman's wife is also running as Congresswoman of Sulu.
Earlier Rep Rodolfo Biazon, chairman of the House Committee on National Defense and Security, said that the MNLF's move to rescue Atyani and other foreigners held by the Abu Sayyaf was politically motivated.

Misuari attended the 8th session of the Parliamentary Union of Islamic Cooperation (PUIC) in Khartoum, Sudan on January 21-22, and arrived with his wife Tarhata Ibrahim Arsad.

Sulu District 1 Congressman Habib Tupay Loong yesterday disclosed he fully supports the initiative taken by Ustadz Habier Malik commander of the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) in confronting the Abu Sayaff militants with the determination of rescuing the hostages who are still under the custody of the terrorist group in Sulu.

In an interview, the Muslim solon said although the confrontation between the two groups brought negative effects because both protagonists are Muslims who are fighting one another however, it is beneficial for the interest of the security of the country.

Loong emphasized he appreciates what Malik had done although it is the primary duty and responsibility of the national government to put a stop on the criminality brought about by lawless elements out to sow terror in the province.

The Sulu lawmaker pointed out the fighting among the two groups will lead to more bloodshed as this will result to personal animosities resulting to family feud.

He appealed to the Armed Forces of the Philippines and the police to resolve the problem since it is under their mandate to make sure that the lives and properties of all concerned are secured.

Lastly, Loong chided the Commission on Elections for the gun ban policy saying there were no proper consultation with various officials who are affected with the guidelines.

“Imposing the gun ban on mayors, governors, vice governors especially the escort policy poses some problem to us elected officials. I am now travelling to Manila, Zamboanga then to Sulu without any escorts or bodyguards. A mayor was already killed in Manila because he was vulnerable without escorts. We are living in high risk situation here,” Loong said.

Moro National Liberation Front Chairman Nur Misuari denied Saturday that he
ordered MNLF forces to attack the Abu Sayyaf but said he supported the
deciksion of one of his commanders in Sulu to do so because it was time to
eradicate the bandit group once and for all.

Speaking to reporters at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport upon his
arrival from Qatar, Misuari said MNLF troops in Sulu under Ustadz Habier Malik
were forced to retaliate and mount a full-scale attack after the bandit group
ambushed a group MNLF soldiers.

“We are going to wipe out all traces of kidnapping in our areas. Our people
have been waiting for years on end for positive action on the part of the Armed
Forces of the Philippines or the Philippine government because we don’t like to
harbor these criminal activities in our homeland because this is against the law
of God, the law of Islam, the law of Koran. This is intolerable, this is
unacceptable,” Misuari said.

Misuari said the MNLF leadership would no longer tolerate the Abu Sayyaf
using Sulu as a haven for “criminal activities,” victimizing locals and
foreigners alike.

He said he would “make inquiries” from his officers in the field if Jordanian
Baker Abdulla Aytani and other foreign hostages had been rescued by the MNLF
troops overran at least two Abu Sayyaf camps last Sunday.

“Before I left, I sent very, very influential persons to their (Abu Sayyaf’s)
camp to tell them to release him and not use Sulu as haven for criminal
activities. [I told them], if they do not listen to us, one day you will be
sorry because none of our people, none of our commanders will tolerate this,”
Misuari said.

He reiterated this message to the Abu Sayyaf on Saturday: “We are trying to
tell the whole world that we are fighting for a civilized, legitimate cause and
here you are shaming and demonizing us. We cannot tolerate you forever.”

Misuari claimed that when he was governor of the Autonomous Region in Muslim
Mindanao he would have put an end to the kidnappings but government agents
coddling the bandits conspired to oust him from office instead.

He charged that the Abu Sayyaf’s activities were being tolerated by the
government to justify military operations in Mindanao and to portray the island
as a dangerous area before the world so that businessmen and tourists would stay
away and Manila could continue the “colonial milieu” in the Bangsamoro homeland.

“Many of the kidnapers are agents of the Philippine Armed Forces, the
government. They kidnap inside the city and then turn them (victims) over” to
the Abu Sayyaf, Misuari said, adding that this was so because the bandit group’s
leader, Radullan Sahiron, “cannot go to the city, he would be arrested by the
military, the police and our people.”

Misuari also vented his ire on Malaysia, which he accused of conniving with
the Philippine government to enter into a “fake” peace agreement with the Moro
Islamic Liberation Front—a breakway faction of the MNLF— in return for contracts
to extract natural gas from the Liguasan Marsh. He said the Bangsamoro’s natural
resources were being “stolen” from the people.

Asked how the MNLF forces managed to still possess arms despite the 1996
final peace agreement with the government, Misuari said around 7,500 armed MNLF
troops were supposed to have been integrated into the police force but this did
not happen because of the stalled implementation of the treaty. He claimed that
through the years, thousands of armed guerrillas previously allied with MILF
have switched allegiance back to the MNLF.

Misuari led a five-member delegation to a conference of parliamentarians and
the leaders’ summit of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation in Khartoum,
Sudan and Cairo, Egypt, respectively. He was accompanied by his wife Tarhata
Ibrahim-Misuari; Dr. Mashur Bin-Ghalib Jundam, head of the MNLF peace panel
secretariat; Bilgadil Albani, director-general of the MNLF in the Middle East;
Abdulkarim Tan Misuari, MNLF chief liaison officer in the Gulf States and
information minister Mohammed Deen.

He said he was able to obtain a commitment from leaders and lawmakers from
OIC-member countries, as well as the new OIC secretary-general, former Saudi
Arabian information minister Iyad Madani, for “holistic autonomy” for Mindanao.

The MNLF is recognized by the OIC as representative of Muslim Filipinos in
the global organization.